SPORTS Monday, 28 March, 2016
Kohli leads india into World t20 semis MOHALI
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IRAT Kohli smashed a masterful 82 to guide India to a sixwicket win against Australia in their final World Twenty20 Super 10 game on Sunday and set up a semi-final against West Indies in Mumbai. Kohli resurrected India with his unbeaten 51-ball knock from a seemingly tricky position as the hosts sprinted home in the end with five balls to spare. “That performance certainly has to be in my top three but probably it is top right now because I’m a bit emotional,” said Kohli. “A lot was riding on us playing at home and with the crowd you want to give them as much entertainment as possible.” India’s bowlers pulled Australia back from a blistering start to restrict them to 160 for six wickets after Australia won the toss and opted to bat. Hosts India, inaugural World T20 champions in 2007, and reigning 50-over
title holders Australia had won two matches each, with their only loss coming against New Zealand in the Super 10 stage. New Zealand face England in the other semi-final. India needed 39 from the last three overs when Kohli decided to show his class which has earned him accolades as one of the world’s best current batsmen. He smashed James Faulkner, who took Australia’s best T20 figures during a five-wicket haul in the last match, for two fours and a six as the left-arm paceman leaked 19 runs. Kohli then hit Nathan Coulter-Nile for four boundaries in the next over to bring down India’s target to just four runs off the final six balls with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni finishing it off with another four off Faulkner. Earlier, Australia’s Aaron Finch (43) and Usman Khawaja (26) smashed the bowlers to all corners of the ground after Smith decided to bat on a pitch that was used for the women’s game between India and West Indies earlier on Sunday.
Left-handed Khawaja’s first six scoring shots were all boundaries, four of them coming against paceman Jasprit Bumrah in one over, with Australia racing past 50 before the completion of the fourth over. Finch, Australia’s captain in the format before he was replaced by Smith shortly before the tournament, then launched into India’s bowling mainstay Ravichandran Ashwin, hitting the off-spinner for two consecutive sixes over long-on. But some smart bowling from leftarm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and parttimers Yuvraj Singh and Hardik Pandya, who picked up two wickets, in the middle overs halted Australia’s progress as they struggled to hit the boundaries. Dangerman Glenn Maxwell (31) took his time at the crease but got out just as he started opening his arms. Wicketkeeper Peter Nevill smashed Pandya for a four and a six off the last two balls as Australia, yet to win the World T20 title, took 15 runs in their final over to ensure India had to score more than eight runs an over in their chase.
Afghanistan post historic T20 win over table toppers West Indies NAGPUR AGENCIES
Khan blames ‘political pressure’ for dismal state of Pakistan cricket ISLAMABAD AGENCIES
Former Pakistan cricket great and chief of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Imran Khan, on Sunday blamed “political pressure” and “cronyism” for the international team’s consistent poor performances. In an outpour on Twitter, Imran said Prime Minister Nawaz had “perfected the art of cronyism” and had appointed an “election fixer” to “fix” Pakistan cricket. The former captain said “the reason cricket has, unlike elsewhere, failed to become an institution in Pak is because here PM appoints PCB chief.” Imran’s solution to Pakistan’s woes is to “insulate” cricket from “political pressure.” He also repeated his earlier demands to revamp the domestic cricket structure to improve players’ “temperament” and “technique.” Imran proposed a domestic cricket circuit on the lines of Australia, where all talent is “concentrated in six regional teams” and ‘all departments instead of fielding their own teams should support the regional teams. The PTI chief also stressed that funds be directed to more productive uses instead of “wasting money on senseless expenditures.” He said Pakistan was in a dire need of more cricket grounds.
Afghanistan skipper Asghar Stanikzai hailed his underdog side after their historic six-run victory over the powerful West Indies at the World Twenty20 match in Nagpur on Sunday. Afghanistan had failed to qualify for the semi-finals heading into Sunday’s match, but were determined to take home a consolation victory against the West Indies, who had already made the final four. Stanikzai paid credit to his neversay-die charges especially batsman Najibullah Zadran, named man-of-the-match, after Afghanistan notched up their first ever Super 10 victory at a World T20. Stanikzai said his side, who had lost three straight group stage matches, had learnt “so much” at the T20 and would now head home and “work on our weaknesses”. “We knew the conditions but the bowlers and fielders played very well. We know about our team’s strengths, we have experienced so much at this WT20.” After being sent into bat, Stanikzai’s side posted a respectable 123/7, with Najibullah smashing an unbeaten 48 against the 2012 World T20 champions. The West Indies, who had a perfect record heading into the match with three straight wins, warned that they were not going to let up against Afghanistan. But their run chase got off to a shaky start, with opener Evin Lewis dismissed for a duck, and some excellent Afghanistan spin bowling led by
17-year-old Rashid Khan (2-26) meant the wickets kept falling. With the West Indies needing 10 runs from the final over, Najibullah sprinted several metres along the boundary to take a spectacular, tumbling catch and claim Carlos Braithwaite for 13, just when he looked like bringing the West Indies home, as he had done against South Africa on Friday. Samuel Badree and an injured Andre Fletcher could only manage to push the total to 117 in the three remaining deliveries. Despite the loss, the West Indies still finished top of Group One, and will play either Australia or India, who clash later Sunday in Group Two, in the semi-finals.
Captain Darren Sammy said the loss would not derail his side’s campaign for the title, describing the loss as a “banana skid” on the road to the finals. “Obviously we are disappointed but we are not going to let this dampen our spirits, we played well, we just need to find a way to chase down those small totals,” he said. “We have two more steps to take, and we just had a slight banana skid in the race, and we just have to regroup and come back again.” After being sent in to bat, Najibullah top scored for Afghanistan, striking four fours and one six in his 40-ball knock to bring cheers from the small but vocal crowd. Afghanistan had lost all of their
previous Super 10 matches, but they have won new admirers with their aggressive and carefree brand of cricket that has caused some anxious moments for their opponents. Opener Mohammad Shahzad made a confident 24, but was caught off legspinner Badree, trying to heave over the infield, just as he was looking exciting. Asghar Stanikzai also made a handy 16. The skipper shuffled down the wicket to smash a six over long on, but was caught the next ball by Dwayne Bravo off Badree attempting the same shot. As the wickets started to tumble thanks to some strong fielding, 23-yearold Najibullah held his nerve, guiding Afghanistan past the 120 mark and to what proved a winning total.
MEN IN GREEN RECEIVE HOSTILE RECEPTION AT LAHORE AIRPORT LAHORE AGENCIES
After an unceremonious exit from World T20, some members of the Pakistan cricket team who arrived home early Sunday were given a hostile reception. In a video posted on social media, Pakistan team members can be seen arriving at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore as cricket fans showed their anger on the dismal performance in the mega event. Men in green were knocked out from the Super 10s round of World T20 on Friday after facing their third consecutive defeat in the tournament. In the video, team manager InPublished by Arif Nizami at Plot No 79, Sector 24, Korangi Industrial Area Karachi.
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tikhab Alam can be seen coming out of the airport, followed by fastbowlers Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, openers Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez, as the crowd booed them with chants of ‘losers, losers,’ and ‘shame, shame’. Meanwhile, Pakistan T20I captain Shahid Afridi has delayed his arrival for a few days and have opted to stay in Dubai. Earlier, there were also reports that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have already decided to dismiss coach Waqar Younis, captain Afridi, team manager Intikhab Alam and chief-selector Haroon Rasheed after a dismal Asia Cup and World T20, where the Men in Green only managed to win three out of eight matches.